Hydraulic elevator



(No Model.) f

1 W. H. MILLIKEN.

HYDRAULIC ELEVATOR.

No. 281,781. Patented 24, 1883.

WITNESSES lNVENTQR 2% 214 154484 N. PUERs Pholo-Mlwgnphor. wamin m. u. t;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. MTLLIKEN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

HYDRAULIC ELEVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 281,781, dated July 24, 1883.

Application filed December 27, 1881.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. MILLIKEN,

of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Freight and Passenger Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to those elevators used in buildings to convey freightand passengers from one story to another which have a plunger attached underneath the bottom of the cab or platform, which rises and falls in a vertical cylinder set below the lowest point the cab or platform falls to.

My invention consists, first, in a device for counterbalancing the cab and plunger second, in a device for cleaning out the deposits-as sand, mud, &c.which may accumulate in the cylinder from using impure water, or other cause; third, in a device for economizing the power applied-such as water-power-and for providing for a nearer relation, as to amount, being maintained between said power applied and that actually required to raise the load.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l is a sectional elevation, in two broken lengths, of parts of an elevator, showing my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a side view of same. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of plungers, plunger-heads, and stuffing-boxes, showing on a larger scale than in other figures how they are related and attached to each other. Fig. 4c is a sectional plan of plungers and cylinder, taken below line as y, Figs. 1 and 2.

In all'the figures of the drawings like letters refer to like parts.

A is the passenger-cab or freight-platform,

as the case may be, as ordinarily used.

(No model.)

and 0 work up and down in moving a heavy load, (I being the stuffing-box of same, and d the gland.

E is a winding-wheel supported above the highest point the cab rises to.

F is a rope connecting with roof of cab, and

which, unwinding from the wheel E as the cab falls, acts to revolve said wheel and wind up Ga heavy chain on the wheel E. This chain is so proportioned as to its weight as to nearly counterbalance the cab and plunger B at all elevations, as hereinafter explained.

H is a weight pendent from end of chain G. It is used to overbalance the weight of the unwound rope F when the cab is at its lowest level, to the effect of insuring that the chain G will immediately commence to unwind when the cab rises.

. I are cross-beams supporting the windingwheel with its axle and bearings.

J is the induction-pipe through which the water is supplied to the cylinder.

K is the eduction-pipe by which the water makes its exit.

L is a pipe screwed into the center of lower head, I), and passing through it, and the upper head, I), of plunger B opens a passage from a little covered recess in the middle of end of cylinder D when it is used as the welllining, and through which the well may have been bored. If the cylinder D is separate and distinct from the well-lining, a flat cylinderhead will be used.

N are lock-hooks. They swing on pivots projecting from the sides of stuffing-box d, and hook over spurs projecting from the sides of the stuffing box 0, and prevent the rise of plunger 0 in cylinder D, for the purpose hereinafter named. N are similar lock-hooks, simlarly related to and performing the same service between the plunger B and cylinder 0.

. O is ahand-lever, which is connected through rods 0 with the hooks N, so as to throw them in and out when the plunger 0 is retired to its lowest point.

The hooks N may be thrown in or out by hand, as they have but limited use, and rise and fall with the cab or plungers.

The lower head or piston of plunger 0 has a corrugated circumference, and while it fits the cyl inder so as to prevent lateral play, plenty of room is allowed for the water to pass. In the center of this piston there is a hole to admit water through to act 011 plunger B. The plunger 0 is lined with light wood to fill in the space between its interior and the exterior of the plunger 13, so as to avoid wasting water every time the small plunger is operated alone.

The chain G may be made of heavy plates joined together by rivets in common fashion, although any suitable style of manufacture will do as long as it is proportioned, as to weight, so as to effect the purpose sought; If desired, two chains may be employed-one 011 each side of the ca-bin which case two winding-wheels may be used, although one will answer by leading one chain under and the other over the winding-wheel, an additional guide-wheel being provided to lead the chain to drop perpendicularly at the side of the cab. (See dotted lines, Fig. l, at a.)

The operation of the invention is as follows:

First, as to the counter-balance: WVhen the cab is at its lowest level, the plunger B, being then nearly entirely submerged, is not a heavy burden to raise, and in some cases it will act ually have a tendency to rise itself, owing to its buoyancy, and will rather need to be held down than forced up. At this time little or no counter-balance is needed. \Vhen, again, the cab is nearly at its highest level, the plunger being then nearly all out of the water, it is heavy and needs a heavy counter-balance to avoid a too great expenditure of power to move it, positions intermediate requiring correspondingly proportionate counterpoise. The overhanging part of my counterbalancechain, becoming longer as the plunger rises by unwinding from the wheel, gradually becomes heavier, to correspond with the increased weight of the plunger, thus materially assisting in raising it. As the cab and plunger fall, the chain is again wound up. By properly calculating the weights of all the parts and the effect of submersion and friction of plunger, a very nicely-adjusted counter-balance may be obtained 011 this plan.

Second, as to the flushing or cleaning-out pipe: \Vhen the cylinder becomes so far filled with sediment as to prevent the plunger falling to the bottom, the cap of the pipe L is removed and a hose attached, leading water under pressure from some convenient source into and through the pipe, thereby creating aforced current leading out through the eduction-pipe. This current will first agitate and then float off the deposit, the best effect being produced when the plungers are at their lowest level Third, as to the double plungers: hen the load to be raised is but a light one, and no great power need be applied, the hooks N are thrown in service and the larger plunger is held from rising, the hooks N being thrown out of action and the smaller plunger left free to move. \Vater under pressure is then ad mitted through the induction-pipe, and it lifts the load with an expenditure of water in volume corresponding with the inside capacity of the larger plunger, saving the volume of -water corresponding with the displacement of the larger plunger. hen the load is great and more power is needed, the hooks are all thrown out, and the larger plunger, being free, rises with the smaller one, when the water is admitted as far as the heavy load is carried. Then, when the load is sufficiently reducedas by passengers getting off at the lowerlandings-the pressure acting 011 the smaller plunger may have force enough to raise it, leaving the larger plunger behind to actin displacing water to effect economy. The production of this latter effect, however, will depend upon the relative weights of the plungers and the load carried, it being manifest that the larger plunger will keep rising as long as it is lighter than the combined weight of smaller plunger and its load. Only at the moment it becomes heavier will it cease to rise. If the larger plunger is so heavy as to actually fall when the load being reduced is less than its own weight, then its fall will assist in raising the load until an equilibrium is established. The above relates to plungers of the same crosssectional area. If they differ in their areas, that which has the greatest will balance the other when proportionately exceeding it in weight. Thus a plunger of one hundred inches area, weighing one ton, will balance a two-ton plunger of only fifty inches area. These facts are mentioned simply to direct attention to the necessity of making proper calculations in designing the different parts of the machine.

The upper hooks, N, are perhaps of little use but they serve to hold the small plunger from moving independently. WVhen both sets of hooks N and N are thrown in service, the elevator is completely looked, as may be some times desirable.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In a hydraulic elevator havingaplunger, B, operating in the cylinder D to raise and lower the load, the variable counter-balance herein described, consisting of the wheel E, around which is coiled the rope F, one end of which is secured to the roof of the cab, and the chain G, of such weight as that its unwound overhanging end will nearly correspond in weight with that of the cab and plun- IIO 3. In a hydraulic elevator having telescopic plungers B and O, the improved plunger 0, consisting of a metal exterior, in combination I 5 with a wooden interior lining, as and for the purpose set forth.

WILLIAM HENRY MILLIKEU.

I \Vitnesses:

GEORGE PARDY, \VM. P. DRUM. 

